Traditional Unionist Voice

Traditional Unionist Voice
AbbreviationTUV
LeaderJim Allister MP
ChairmanKeith Ratcliffe
PresidentWilliam Ross
Deputy LeaderRon McDowell
Founded7 December 2007; 16 years ago (2007-12-07)
Split fromDemocratic Unionist Party
Headquarters38 Henry Street, Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing[4]
National affiliationReform UK–TUV alliance
Colours      Blue (primarily), red and white
House of Commons
(NI Seats)
1 / 18
NI Assembly
1 / 90
Local government in Northern Ireland[5]
10 / 462
Website
www.tuv.org.uk Edit this at Wikidata

The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its sine qua non the preservation of Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom. A founding precept of the party is that "nothing which is morally wrong can be politically right".[6]

The TUV was formed in December 2007 by Jim Allister after he and others had resigned from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in March of that year.[7] At the time of his resignation, Allister was a prominent figure in the DUP and held the position of Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the party having been elected to the European Parliament in 2004. The reason for the split was DUP leader Ian Paisley's March 2007 consent to the St Andrews Agreement and his willingness to become First Minister of Northern Ireland alongside a deputy First Minister from the Irish Republican party Sinn Féin.[8]

Prior to the St Andrews Agreement, the DUP had presented itself as an 'anti-Agreement' unionist party[9] opposed to numerous aspects of the Good Friday Agreement, e.g., the release of paramilitary prisoners before the end of their jail sentences, and the participation of Sinn Féin in the Northern Ireland government without complete decommissioning of Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) weapons and cessation of all IRA activity. The TUV has been an exception among Northern Irish unionist parties in consistently opposing the presence of Sinn Féin in the Northern Ireland government.[10] After Allister's resignation from the DUP, he continued to occupy his European Parliament seat, sitting as an Independent MEP until the following European election in 2009 when he was not re-elected.

In terms of electoral success and financial income,[11] Traditional Unionist Voice is the third largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, behind the Democratic Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). It is usually considered by political commentators to be a small party and characterised as being more hardline than other Northern Irish unionist parties.[12]

Since 2011, the TUV has occupied one seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly. In 2024, they won their first seat in the United Kingdom House of Commons.[13] The party also holds a few seats on local councils in Northern Ireland. Its most prominent elected representative and best-known figure remains Jim Allister whose North Antrim constituency is the heartland of the party.

Since 2008, the party president has been former East Londonderry Westminster MP William Ross.

In March 2024, the party formed an electoral pact with Reform UK, stating that the two parties would stand mutually agreed candidates in Northern Ireland constituencies in the 2024 United Kingdom general election.[14] In this election, the party won its first Westminster Member of Parliament (MP), electing Jim Allister as MP for North Antrim.

  1. ^ a b c Nordsieck, Wolfram. "Northern Ireland (UK)". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  2. ^ "About TUV". Traditional Unionist Voice. Archived from the original on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  3. ^ Three Compelling Reasons to Vote Leave Archived 2 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Traditional Unionist Voice (official website). Published 20 June 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  4. ^ Walsh, John (30 April 2021). "Don't envy the next DUP leader. They face an almost impossible job". Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  5. ^ "NI council elections 2023: A Sinn Féin coronation after a 'tsunami' election". BBC. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  6. ^ "About TUV". tuv.org.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Seventh councillor leaves the DUP". BBC News. 5 April 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2022.; "New Unionist grouping to be launched". BBC News. 7 December 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2022.; "New unionist movement opens anti-accord Voice". belfasttelegraph.co.uk. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  8. ^ "So what's the DUP strategy?". jimallister.org. 28 November 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Northern Ireland's First Minister Trimble adapts to hardline anti-Agreement Unionists". World Socialist Web Site. 2 November 2000. Retrieved 23 August 2022.;"Anti-agreement unionists urged to unite". irishtimes.com. 8 March 2003. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  10. ^ "TUV will never be bridesmaid for Sinn Fein, Allister tells conference". belfasttelegraph.co.uk. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  11. ^ "DUP income drops to an 11-year low putting the party behind the Ulster Unionists – and far in the shadow of Sinn Fein". msn.com. 17 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Why does the small TUV party frighten the DUP so much?". The Irish Times. 19 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Who are Northern Ireland's seven new MPs?". BBC News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  14. ^ "TUV conference: Jim Allister announces partnership with Reform UK". BBC News. 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.;"The future of DUP big hitters could now lie in Jim Allister's hands". Belfast Telegraph. 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.